Regulators in the US, Britain and Switzerland ordered five banks to pay about €2.6bn in fines in the first wave of penalties since authorities began a global probe into the rigging of key foreign-exchange benchmarks last year.

An independent inquiry into what the Bank of England knew of alleged currency market collusion will quiz senior traders about what guidance they received from the UK’s central bank as far back as 2012.

A News Corp board member said today embattled chief executive Rupert Murdoch had the full support of the company's board of directors and denied it was considering replacing him with chief operating officer Chase Carey.